2024年2月16日（金）
聖
訓：ひじき
音：せい、しょう
英：holy, saint, sage, master, priest
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
I’m in the middle of doing a PowerPoint for my church and I’m really struggling, so if there are any PowerPoint experts anywhere around here, please come to my flat and I’ll give you a free coffee… anyway, because of this, I decided to go with a churchy theme today.
I am certified in Microsoft Powerpoint, but seeing as I’m across the planet, not sure if I can make it to you before your deadline. I’ll be rooting for you though!
Cheers, I got there in the end!
2024年2月17日（土）
匹
訓：ひき
音：ひつ
英：equal, head, counter for small animals, roll of cloth
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
Pay attention to the stroke order on this one, because I’ve met plenty of Japanese people who don’t know to do the bottom part of 匚 last…
2024年2月18日（日）
酵
音：こう
英：fermentation
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
I’m absolutely terrible at writing 酉 so apologies for that…
2024年2月19日（月）
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
I thought I’d give this one a go today. The length of the top stroke can vary and there isn’t a correct length.
2024年2月20日（火）
了
音：りょう
英：complete, finish
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
A very basic one for today. I decided to do this one because I’ve recently been practicing the angle of the second stroke. I can’t seem to get it 100% right, but I think I did an OK job here.
This Friday is a public holiday in Japan, then I’m going to my friend’s wedding the next day, so I’m likely to take a few days off at the end of this week. 
I’m tired of practicing drawing 楷書:
I think I’d like a more cursive style like 行書 but I’m not sure where to start with that. Can anybody recommend resources?
I can’t recommend any resources, but if there happens to be a Japanese calligraphy teacher in your country, you should contact them! If you’re in a big country like Brazil, the USA or Canada, there is likely to be someone who can teach by mail. The teacher will send you an assignment each month and you can send your practice back to him/her. The teacher will then give you advice on how to write your characters better.
2024年2月21日（水）
碧
音：へき、ひゃく
英：blue, green
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
I saw this in someone’s name and none of my colleagues could read it, so I thought I should do it for today!
この漢字、私の友達の名前に使われてる〜！ 
This kanji happens to be used in the novel I am currently reading, 海と毒薬. It is quite a heavy book, about a Japanese doctor who performed vivisections on American airmen during WW2, but I would recommend it for any intermediate or advanced learners who are into more serious literature. I haven’t finished it yet but it is very well written and quite creepy in a horrifying sort of way.
Anyway, here are a couple of sentences from the novel that use this kanji with the reading あおい (the 人形 being described is notably of a white guy in the display window of a 洋服店, hence the extra attention given to the colour of the eyes):
高い鼻と
海の色は非常に碧く、遠く、眼にしみるようだった。
I googled the differences between the different kanji used for あおい when I came across this at first and found this article pretty useful and mildly interesting. Here is an image from the article showing the differences:
Good choice of kanji! I am not sure if you take suggestions but on a similar theme I might suggest 翠 which is used in the wonderful word 翠嵐, amongst other probably more common words (notably now the mass produced “Japanese gin” made by Suntory and meaning “kingfisher” in that context - you could even try and compare your efforts to the 書道 style version on the gin bottle).
2024年2月26日（月）
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
I’ve had a few days off since I’ve been away for a wedding, so here’s an appropriate one for today.
Yeah of course I do! I’ll give it a go tomorrow!
I’m surprised that 蒼 isn’t more… pale.
I am guessing that is a wanikani or rtk keyword or something? I guess it comes from 蒼白 but the pale meaning comes from the 白 part and I would probably say 蒼白 is like pallid green or something (or similar to the English word “livid” where the emotional usage of the word is stronger than the colour usage). Refer to a word like 鬱蒼 and you can see the “green” meaning. The 艸 at the top of 蒼 is the 意符, clearly meaning grass. Probably that makes it easier to remember.
Edit: I just checked and it is a wanikani thing and they do use the vocab word 蒼白 and use the keywords/mnemonic “pale white”. If you are a user I would probably give feedback about that specific keyword/kanji as it does seem misleading since 蒼白 is specifically a pale green/blue or refers to the kind of sickly paleness that a human face can have (in fact that is where I see this word used).
I do use WaniKani but I long stopped looking at the mnemonics. However I do see “pale” even in more… reputable sources: 蒼 #kanji - Jisho.org
Also in Chinese it can also mean “greyish white” apparently: 蒼 - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
But actually my association with “pale” is not due to any of this but because of this item in an old game: Ivory Book (Accessory) | Legaia Wiki | Fandom
Ivory Book (蒼白の書, souhaku no sho, lit. Pale White Book) is an accessory in Legend of Legaia.
That’s where I first met the kanji. That’s why I associate 蒼 with pale more than green/blue, probably subsequently reinforced by WaniKani.
Oh, interesting. I wonder how strong that association is for Japanese and Chinese people and if/when a divergence occured. I’ll try asking some Japanese friends today and see if they make the association or think it is legit.
なるほどなるほど
Although KANJIDIC is definitely a step up from wanikani it is still full of weirdness (same goes for JMdict-EDICT) and you can find errors and odd editorial choices sometimes. I personally just have trust issues in regards to English keywords for kanji at this point. Native examples always seem clearer.
I have a really nice 字源 dictionary but it is at work and I am off until Wednesday so I can’t check it now but if I remember I will post an update in this thread with the entry comments from there as normally they are excellent and provide some really good examples of rare older 漢語 that use original borrowings of the kanji directly from Chinese. Between that and asking my friends I reckon something interesting may come up. Kanji really is one of those things that seems simple and then quickly turns into a bottomless pit lol
